


Scream

by Varil



Category: A Darker Shade of Magic
Genre: Blood, Implied Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Pre-Book(s), Slavery, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9058831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varil/pseuds/Varil
Summary: '“I’m sure that you want me to stop and, as much as I am enjoying myself, I am willing to on one previously mentioned condition”He gently pushed his lips against Hollands, lingering for a second before pulling away to look him in the eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly in to a smirk.“Scream”'A small look into Hollands life with Athos.Set before the books, four years into Holland's binding.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, here we go. You'd never guess that Holland was my favourite character, would you?

A low hiss forced its way through his lips and into the room. He prayed that Athos had missed it, the chuckle that followed told him he hadn’t. Holland tried to breathe deeply to stop his body from shaking any more visibly than it already was, he didn’t want to give Athos the satisfaction, but when he opened his mouth his lungs seemed to fail him.

“You know that won’t do, don’t you?”

 Athos was looking him straight in the eye, his falsely sweet voice laced with venom. He began taking slow, graceful steps towards Holland.

 “It’s getting quite late, almost midnight you know”

His whip hit the ground with a heavy thud.

“I’m actually rather tired and I’m sure you are too, and in a lot of pain”

His face was only inches away from Hollands.

“And as beautiful you know I think you are, especially when you suffer”

Holland tensed as Athos’ hand gripped his chin tightly and drew their faces nearer, his body flush against his.

“I’m sure that you want me to stop and, as much as I am enjoying myself, I am willing to on one previously mentioned condition”

He gently pushed his lips against Hollands, lingering for a second before pulling away to look him in the eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly in to a smirk.

“Scream”

Before Holland could even react, Athos was on the other side of the room again, whip in hand, mouth twisted up in to a cruel smile. A second later the crack of his whip cut through the air followed by another, louder, hiss from Holland as the duel ends tore into his flesh.

Again, again, again.

He had gone numb hours ago, no longer able to feel the blood running down his body in crimson red torrents, unable to feel the piercing cold of the dungeon air. All he could feel was Athos.

There was a long pause in Athos’ steady rhythm and when he opened his eyes he saw him wrapping his whip around his hand. Holland was strapped into a metal frame that forced his limbs apart and his head forward so that he always had to see Athos every time he opened his eyes. He had put his whip down on the table and was now, slowly, expecting a series of knives, tuning to give Holland an almost seductive look with each one he picked up.

When he found the one he was looking for, he leant down and retrieved a small bowl of black ink. He turned back around and grinned.

“I wanted you to scream with your own free will, or well, what I left you with”

He chuckled and Hollands scar burned.

“But now I’m beginning to fear that maybe I commanded you to scream and just didn’t realise because you didn’t”

Bullshit. He hadn’t commanded anything and he knew it, this was just an excuse. Holland never quite understood why Athos would make reasons such as that one. The man had all the power and clearly felt no shame, so why? For fun. To Athos, a lot of the time this was just like a game.

“Which would mean that, somehow, my mark is wearing off, and we can’t have that can we?”

At some point, Athos had walked back up to him and was now looking him dead in the eye. Holland felt himself flinch slightly when he felt the cold, ink covered, blade tip press softly against his skin. Athos had placed the knife between them in a way that meant if he got any closer it would cut into Holland. He slowly leaned in, the blade pushing further and further into Holland’s chest as he did, and once again he pressed his lips against Hollands. Athos gripped the handle and pulled it out from between them, ripping a line through Holland’s skin. He pulled away from Holland for a second before kissing him more forcefully.

Athos’ tongue pushed its way into Hollands mouth, eyes still open and staring intently into his. Shame and disgust ran through him, almost enough to distract from the knife slowly trailing up is chest. It reached its mark and all feelings were replaced with searing pain as the blade sliced into his skin, carving that same symbol that he had worn for almost four years now.

 Athos pulled his mouth away and looked over Hollands face, his eyes, his mouth, searching for something. He smiled that same cruel smile and his hand stopped. By now he was done with the carving and had just simply been going over it multiple times. He moved forwards so that his mouth was next to Hollands ear. He whispered something.

“Scream”

He drove the knife into Holland’s body and grinned at the delicious sound that escaped him. A scream, a cry of pure agony. He had won.

He ran one of his fingers over Hollands chest and licked the blood off them in that same seductive, yet sadistic, manner that he seemed to do most things in. Holland felt terror build up inside of him, Athos smiled.

“Oh no!” He shook his head.

“As much as I would love to, like I said before, I’m far too tired to indulge myself in you any more, even,”

His eyes looked him up and down in an almost predatory way.

“if it is very tempting”

He unlocked Hollands restraints and watched him fall to the floor.

Athos turned and began to walk towards the door.

“Get up and follow”

Holland obeyed and hurried to catch up to Athos, despite the relentless pain spiking through his body, walking beside him through the empty palace halls. It was a short walk from the dungeon to the royal baths, but the piercing silence, only broken by the sounds of the guards creaking in their amour, was unbearable.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The royal baths weren’t heated by magic like they were in Red London, or by coal like in grey London. Instead they were cold until a Dane entered, warming it themselves with whatever ugly power they possessed. Athos watched with terrifying air of calm, shameless, depravity as Holland stripped off what was left of his clothing and sunk, almost reluctantly- he had long since given up on trying to resist- into the water.

The icy liquid burnt dully against is hot skin. Holland watched, half asleep despite the chill of the bath, as his blood ran off him, tinting the water a deep red. He sat there, half-heartedly scrubbing at himself, holding back hisses of pain, holding back a three and a half year build of tears and anger and hatred. Sometimes he was surprised that he could feel these things at all with his broken mind.

No, not broken mind, never broken. He would never break, no matter how much strain Athos but on him, no matter how hard he pushed.

“Get out” was the simple command.

Holland pulled himself out of the water and was about to put his blood-stained cloths back on when Athos stopped him.

“Now don’t be silly. What would be the point of putting dirty cloths back onto a lovely clean body?”

Holland hadn’t been looking at him in that moment, but he could hear the wicked smirk in his voice. Athos knew what he was doing.

When he wasn’t physically abusing Holland in some way, he was humiliating him in another. Putting him on display when foreign dignitaries came to the palace, forcing him to preform lewd acts in public, making him walk through the palace halls naked, under the stony eyes of the guards.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The wet slap of Holland’s feet on the stone floor bounced off the walls and echoed through the halls. He was following just a few steps behind Athos, hands behind his back. Athos had commanded him to keep them there to make sure that he didn’t attempt to cover himself in any way whilst his attention was elsewhere. Holland refused to let any emotion register on his face, a skill learnt over time, a skill Athos hated. Slowly, Holland was building a resistance, a wall, to Athos, to the outside world. Still the eyes of the guard pierced him, never sure if they mocked him or pitied him.

Athos pushed open the heavy wooden doors of his personal sleeping chambers, knocking the four guards always positioned there out of the way. Holland’s bedroom was attached to Athos’, only accessible through a small door right at the very back.

His room was, despite what many would expect, quite lavish. It was a reasonably large size, with a king-sized bed covered in soft silk covers and warm blankets that could make you fall asleep instantly. Ironic really, considering that he hardly ever slept; when he did, it was always restless and short, constantly being interrupted by thoughts of the previous day.

Athos threw himself down on the settee that stood near the entrance of Holland’s room. Even when ‘throwing’ himself, Athos still maintained a level of grace that never failed to put people at a certain unease at the fact that something like Athos could move in an angelic manner. He looked around the room before his eyes finally settled on Holland, a falsely friendly smile spread across his face.

“So, how was your day?”

The sweet, caring, tone. The well-rehearsed genuineness. It made Holland pause for a second in the middle of pulling a shirt over his head. He hesitated for a second.

“Fine”

Silence.

A few painful seconds of silence.

“How was your?”

“Very good, thank you for asking. I went out with Astrid this morning, we were riding through a quiet region and…”

Holland hated this. The friendly conversation Athos would try to keep during these moments when there was no one around but them and nothing happening that involved them both.  He was never sure why he did it. Was it something to pass the time? Did he feel awkward? Unlikely. Perhaps it was just another one of his acts of blatantly fake care that he used to add salt to the wound. Sometimes it seemed as if he just loved the sound of his own voice.

Athos went on about his daily routine until Holland was fully dressed and pulling the sheets over himself. It was only now that he realised how truly tired he was; it didn’t matter, he wouldn’t sleep. But for a second, just a second, his eyes drifted shut, and he almost felt like something was right. Like things were going to be okay.

He’d been allowed out tonight. Very rarely, the Danes let him go out into London at night, to go to a tavern or for a walk. They were only for short periods but he felt like there was a little less weight on him. He was always aloud out in the day but Athos always kept an eye on him, at night it was as if Athos’ watchful gaze had been blocked out by the darkness. He knew that this wasn’t the case, he could be seen at all times, night or day, but it felt like the night shielded him. He’d passed his home today, or rather the place he’d lived when he was young. Years away meant that he couldn’t recognise the exact house, but he knew the street from the faded memories. Only, it wasn’t the same. He went there over and over, every chance he got, but it was never the same. Never quite as bright, never as full of hope.

He knew that no matter what he felt now, things were never going to be okay.

When his eyes opened again Athos was there in front of him. He smiled gently before reaching down to touch Holland’s cheek.

“Good night”  

His voice came out as a whisper.

“I’ll see you in the morning”

His grip on Hollands cheek tightened. Pain prickled in his face.

“Until then,”

He let go.

“sleep well”

His fingers had a small smear of blood on them that Holland only managed to glimpse as he turned around and walked to the door, digging his hands in his pocket to pull out a key. Holland was locked in at night. He turned over in his bed and thoughts begun to flood into his head. The life he could be living if he were in Kell’s place, anyone else’s place. What the day held for him tomorrow. He couldn’t help the small sniff that escaped him.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Athos chuckled to himself as he turned the key in the lock. He listened intently for any sound made by Holland, much to his displeasure there were none. The first six months after Holland had been bound he had cried almost every night, and Athos had enjoyed standing by the door and listening for a while.

He was about to move away from and go to his bed when he heard it. A small, pathetic, sniffle. It was unlikely that Holland was crying but it was good enough. Athos smiled to himself, now he had won twice in the past hour.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel bad for writing this, especially since Holland is my favourite character in the first book and still very high on my list in the second book.  
> About the Athos raping Holland thing. While it is never mentioned in the book-and if it was I missed it completely- I feel like it's something that Athos would do. Looking at his character and the way he acts towards Holland just gave me that thought of feeling. I also feel like he's the type of guy where you go into a cafe, order a cup of tea and he tells you how lovely you are all the while making your tea and just before he hands it to you, he looks you in the eye and spits in it. Only Athos wouldn't be spitting in your drink, he would be carving his name into your chest.  
> For some reason I have the idea that for the first few months, Holland openly cried and showed emotion in front of the Danes because he hadn't yet realised that that is what they wanted.  
> Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this, it really means a lot. Please let me know if there are any mistakes.


End file.
